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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Survivalist? Prepper? Something else?



Many years ago I didn’t mind using the term survivalist. After all, if you aren’t into survival what are you into? Dying? Then the term got connected with a lot of people who were acting pretty extreme and crazy.

Prepper made sense. Being prepared for disasters is only prudent. To me that means being able to provide the necessities: food, water, shelter, and basic security in times of disaster. The most likely problems are things like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, earthquakes and other natural disasters. After than I’d be concerned about crime and possible civil unrest -possibly sparked by a natural disaster.

Unfortunately that term is often being used by people who think they are going to battle government armies using assault rifles and a Jeep with a lift kit. Never mind that armies are equipped to take out tanks and have massive manpower and logistic advantages. Resisting an army is just dreamland. If an army is coming after you it’s time to find another country to live in.

It’s pretty annoying to have my nomenclature stolen out from underneath me. I think I’m going to hold onto the term prepper. It hearkens back to my days of being a Boy Scout where “be prepared,” was a motto you could live by.

-Sixbears

14 comments:

  1. Living on the Texas coast for so many years has taught me the value in being a Prepper, and I have used a great many of my supplies in dealing with hurricanes and the like.

    Being prepared only makes sense. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worse.

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    1. Exactly! People in a hurricane zone without a plan are just foolish.

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  2. I call it , being self insured.

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  3. I call myself an Earth Muffin! LOL I'm into Self Sufficiency and pursue Self Reliance in all areas of my life.

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    1. Hey Earth Muffin! Interesting term. There's a sense of security in being self-reliant.

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  4. And yet, SB - the gubbimint is scared spitless of guys just like you too. That is why they are trying to hang these derogatory labels on you. People that can fend for themselves are incredibly difficult to control. And while the military machine has little to fear from the gunnie in the lifted Jeep... it’s open season on the politicos that give them their orders if they should ever turn against the people. This is why the Democrats want to disarm everyone.

    I don’t like the crazies either, but just because they’re paranoid doesn’t mean we don’t have real enemies - foreign and domestic.

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  5. While I'm not an avid survivalist, I'm generally prepared for emergencies that do not require the services of the fire department or a team of EMTs and a meat wagon.

    In the fantastically unlikely case of an armed insurrection, I plan to keep my head down and my powder dry. I'm also reminded of the French Resistance in WWII, who helped the war effort by collecting intelligence and by sabotage.

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    1. The French Resistance is an interesting study. Resistance groups fought each other about as much as they fought the Germans. For example, it was easier to get weapons by stealing them from each other than taking from the Nazis. They did do a lot of good, especially during the D-day invasion.

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  6. I have a license from the FAA that says I am qualified to fly single engine airplanes, does that make me a pilot? I've made a living swinging a hammer most of my adult life, and have a fair amount of knowledge about the mater, yet hessitate to call myself a carpenter. It detracts from those more accomplished than me and sounds presumptuous. Labels like titles leads to expectations and being boxed in by other people's myopic perceptions and definitions. That is why I don't care for them. I don't like wearing them on my clothing nor applying them to myself. Other than PWT that is.... and that is only to make jest of myself and my own shortcomings.

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    1. Labels can be dangerous. Just ask a certain group who had to wear a yellow star during WWII. Those who survived that is.

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  7. We all know how well modern armies did ( or are doing) against primitive armies in Vietnam and Afghanistan - or in this country during Colonial Times.

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    1. Do you have a supply line through the jungle from a large country? Proxy wars give a distorted view on what a guerilla army can do. Resistance movements can be successful, but at a high cost. It's a nasty business. Some of these keyboard warriors think they are going to go toe to toe with regular military units. It's one thing to plant IEDs and snip through the bushes. It's something else to take your converted Jeep against tanks.

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